Orihime's Diary
by LadyKleo
Summary: Hanagumi revives "Romeo and Juliet" with new lead actresses. Could it cause any changes in their real life? Warning: f/f slash. MariaXOrihime
1. Orihime's Diary

_Disclaimer: Sakura Taisen and all the characters belong to their authors. _

_Author's Notes: This is a short story written purely for my own entertainment. Hope some of those who will read it will like it._

_**Warning**: This story contains descriptions of romantic relationship between two females. Don't read it if you are against such things._

_Special thanks to Nenena for being my beta for this story!_

**Orihime's Diary.**

"So, our lead roles will be performed this time by Orihime and Maria."

Me? The lead role? With Maria-san as my partner? In ROMEO AND JULIET? I couldn't believe my own ears. 

"Um… Excuse me…" I raised my hand. "Why me? Why not Sakura-san?"

"Because Sakura should concentrate on her current role." Our manager shook his head. "Moreover, I want you to shine too."

"Do you have any objections?" Maria-san seemed to be a bit annoyed by my questions.

"No, no, no!" I protested quickly. "I was just… surprised… Right! A little." 

I'm going to play Juliet! Ju-li-et! My heart was ready to jump out of my chest and dance a jig around me. And Maria-san is going to be Romeo! Won't it be a guaranteed success?I glanced at her, but she was already reading the play. As if there was something new in it…

As far as I know, Maria-san already performed this role on this same stage several years ago with Sumire as her partner. When I heard that the manager wanted to revive this play, I decided that I'd do everything to get some really significant role, like Mercutio or Tybalt. I was sure that Sakura would be chosen as Juliet because she replaced Sumire after her retirement in almost all the plays, so naturally the manager's announcement caught me unawares. 

"We're starting rehearsals in two days; use this time to learn your lines." With these words the manager left the room. 

0000000

"Reni, I'm so nervous! I can't even eat normally!" I sighed.

We were sitting in my room and reading the script aloud. Of course, I could ask Maria-san to join me, but I didn't want her to see my incompetence. I wanted to be sure that I looked and sounded proper before she saw me. 

Deep inside my heart I always idolized Maria-san. She is the true star of our troupe, not Sumire or Sakura. Since the first day in this theatre I was her secret admirer, following her everywhere and learning from her. But with each of my achievements, she mastered her artistic skills even more. Even in minor roles she looks stunning, let alone leading ones.

"Why are you nervous?" My best friend leaned back in her chair with her eyes half-closed.

"Because it's not a fairy-tale or some light-hearted revue, it's a classical drama. Moreover, everyone will be comparing me with Sumire." I stamped back and forth, pressing my palms to my face.

"I'm sure you'll be a wonderful Juliet!" Reni smiled. 

"No, she won't!" I didn't even notice when Maria-san entered the room!

"B-but…" I whispered with a trembling voice looking at her with a horror.

"Unless you forget about Sumire and put your soul into your performance!"

Suddenly Maria-san grabbed my hand and dragged me somewhere. I couldn't do anything but follow her, silently cursing myself for being so careless with my words.

0000000

"Ahh… That was delicious!" I looked at Maria-san dreamily. 

"I'm glad that ability to eat returned to you." She sipped red wine from a tall crystal glass.

"But of course!" I smiled sincerely. "It's such a wonderful place…"

"That's good. I need a healthy Juliet for the best performance." She nodded, then leaned towards me and whispered. "There is chocolate on your lower lip, wipe it off." I blushed. 

Actually, Maria-san brought me to the fanciest restaurant in all of Tokyo and made me order a full dinner. The menu was so huge that I studied it for at least half an hour, and I had to choose appetizer, entrée, and dessert, which was extremely difficult. Then she repeated my choice and ordered a bottle of Bordeaux for us. While we were waiting for the food and, then, eating, I had plenty of time to observe the restaurant, its tasteful decoration, beautiful paintings in heavy golden frames on the walls, snow-white tablecloths and napkins… and my companion. Maria-san looked so natural in this rich environment, as if she were at least a countess. What's more, her manners were irreproachable. I should definitely ask Papa to paint her portrait one day…

"So, how about a little walk?" She suggested when we left the restaurant.

"Sure!" I nodded readily.

"_Can I go forward when my heart is here? Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out_." She smiled and offered her arm to me. "Act 2, scene 1."

Did she drink too much wine? Or…

0000000

The weeks of rehearsals were as hard as always, even for those who had already performed in this play before, as our director decided to change everything. For me it was a nightmare. Of course in front of the others I was confident and professional, but behind the closed door of my room I exhausted myself with dancing and singing, and constantly repeated my lines in front of a mirror. Sometimes Reni, whose role was Mercutio, joined me, and we spent whole nights in the far music room trying to get a perfect sound from our voices. 

I didn't talk to Maria-san much outside of the rehearsal room until one day she knocked on my door and told me we should spend more time together to maintain a needed chemistry. I've never heard about such a method of preparation before, but being able to observe her even more closely was a really a great opportunity to learn from her. Since then after the group rehearsals we always went to some quiet place and kept practicing till late in the evenings. Seeing that, Kanna-san started to call us Mario and Soliet, and pretty soon the others adopted this way of addressing to us. It sounded too embarrassing to me, but it seemed Maria-san didn't care for a second. 

0000000

"Playing on a stage is the same as operating a Koubu." Maria-san said while we were eating our lunch in a park. "You can fully depend on your own abilities, but the best performance will come only when your heart sounds in unison with a heart of your stage partner."

I looked at her, surprised. She rarely says anything like that, believing that every actor should realise it by themselves. But recently I noticed that she had become less reserved than before. 

"Do you think our hearts can beat like that?" I asked, chewing a rice ball.

"Yes." She smiled gently. "You just need to fall in love with me."

"I need what?!" Bewildered, I jumped to my feet and stared at her.

"You need to clean the rice from your face." She chuckled. "What I wanted to say is that you should fall in love with me every time you hear the third bell, and forget about it when the curtains go down."

I sighed in relief and sat back down next to her. Even though she's one of the best people I've ever met, falling in love with her for real would be somehow wrong. There where I grew up we don't tolerate such feelings. However, it would actually be quite easy… I glanced at Maria-san. She was looking directly at me and seemed to be really amused by my reaction at her words.

"Have you finished eating?" She asked. "The rehearsal will begin in about ten minutes, so we should hurry."

"Oh, sure!" I nodded, and we rushed back to the theatre. 

0000000

"Reni, say, is it a good idea to imagine that you're in love with your stage partner when you play in a romance scene?"

There were only few days left till the opening night of _Romeo and Juliet_, which meant we were practicing furiously with almost no rest. Maria-san and Kanna-san had left my room only few minutes ago, and it was 2 AM already. I was lying on my bed and looking at the ceiling. Reni curled herself up into a ball next to me.

"That might work…" She murmured. "Why do you ask?"

"Maria-san told me to do that…" I pressed my palm to my mouth and yawned widely.

"Did she?" Reni giggled. "I thought Sumire-san was an arrogant one, but looks like Maria-san inherited it after her retirement."

"Don't laugh!" I kicked her. "It's not in your character as well!"

"I spend too much time with you!" She kept laughing.

"Reni, I was serious…"

"Seriously, that might be tricky. Even dangerous."

She closed her eyes and fell asleep in few seconds. In my bed! Moreover, it wasn't the first time during the last couple of weeks. I covered her with a plaid and was going to go to bed myself when I heard someone call my name. I opened the door and saw Maria-san standing there in her nightgown. 

"I just remembered I've promised you this…" She gave me a flask with some pinkish liquid. "Put few drops into your morning tea, it's good for your voice."

"Oh, thank you so much!" I carefully opened the flask and smelled a deep flowery fragrance of the liquid.

"Sorry for disturbing you so late…"

"That's fine! I wasn't sleeping yet." I smiled. "Actually I was thinking of what I should do with Reni." I pointed at my sleeping friend.

"I'll take her to her room… And you go to your bed." 

Maria-san easily took Reni in her arms and left my room. I closed the door behind her and sat on my bed. Why did she come now? She could easily have given me this medicine the next morning… Did she want something from me, but eventually changed her mind? The medicine looked like an excuse, but for what? I didn't know.

0000000

Of course the premiere was magnificent! The auditorium was full of amazed spectators, and all of them were enchanted by my brilliant performance. Maria-san also played her role wonderfully. Moreover, it seemed she was in a perfect mood. And I hadn't been that happy for many days already!

I was sitting in my room and slowly brushing my hair when someone quietly knocked on the door. To my surprise it was Maria-san. She had changed into her usual striped suit, and now was holding a bottle of wine and two glasses. 

"I think we should celebrate your first success as the lead actress". Her smile was warm and friendly.

"Yeah". I smiled back on her. "But is it ok if we don't invite others to join us?"

"I'm afraid they're either busy or don't drink, like Iris". She chuckled. "But if you want a party, I guess we could convince Sakura and Kanna and Reni to keep us a company..." 

"No, no!" I protested. "If you say they're busy, we shouldn't distract them!"

"Then would you like to go to the roof?" She suggested. "It's a full moon tonight, and the sky is absolutely clear."

"It sounds interesting." I smiled and quickly put on my slippers.

The night was really beautiful. It was quiet and windless, so, instead of speaking aloud, we were almost whispering. The wine was very good, and Maria-san was telling me stories about Russia and America and other countries she had visited before joining the Hanagumi. Some of these stories were sad, some made me laugh, but all of them were full of unforgettable events. Then I told her about Italy, about beautiful _palazzos _and ancient ruins, about carnival in Venice and sacred rituals in the Vatican, and about the cheerful people who live there. Being fully concentrated on what I was talking about, I didn't realise at first, how attentively and quietly she was looking at me. 

"Is anything wrong?" I asked, being a bit afraid that she might think I'm too talkative.

"No, why do you think so?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Umm... There was something in your eyes..." I tried to explain.

"I was enchanted by your words, that's all." She removed a strand of her hair from her face. "They made me want to visit your country."

"Ah, yes. Probably one day we'll be able to go there together. I'd show you how wonderful my Italy is!"

"We could even go to Verona and perform in front of Juliet's house..." Her voice sounded dreamy.

"That's a fantastic idea!" 

I sat in front of her and started to proclaim tiny bits of my role. She looked at me as if there was something new in what I was saying. Then suddenly she grabbed my hand and squeezed it in hers.

"This was a real Juliet! You must repeat it on stage tomorrow." She whispered.

"I'll try to..." I smiled. "If you ask me..."

"I do…" She smiled back. "Oh, you're shivering. Should we go back?"

"Please, no…" I didn't really understand why I was saying that. "I… It's like being in a fairytale… In a dream… The full moon, the stars, this cool breeze, this delicious wine… And nobody but you and me…"

At that very moment she pulled me towards herself and embraced me tightly. I had no other choice but to encircle her waist with my arms.

"This way you won't catch a cold." She whispered into my ear, and I only nodded in response.

I knew her every move and every touch. Playing Romeo and Juliet we almost kissed each other on stage, and shared numerous embraces. But now it was totally different from anything I'd felt before. Her fingers gently stroked my hair, and her cheek was pressed to my forehead. All that was so pleasant and calming, that in few minutes I started to fall asleep. The last thing I remember was a gentle touch of her soft lips on the corner of mine. 

O Maria, Maria! Perché sei tu Maria?

0000000

The first thing that came to my mind when I woke up was that I wanted to die. In addition to a horrible headache my whole body hurt because of a very uncomfortable posture I was lying in. It was an early morning, slightly after a sunrise, and I was still on the roof of our theatre. And I was carefully covered with Maria's stripped jacket. Oh my God… Oh. My. God! Did she really kiss me, or was it in a dream? I pressed my fingers to my lips. If it was not in a dream, was it a friendly, sisterly kiss or was it something more intimate? My poor heart was ready to jump out of my chest. 

Slowly I stood up and went inside the theatre. Every step resonated in my head with a stroke of pain, and going down the stairs was the most difficult part. Of course I didn't want anyone to see me in such a condition, so I was going to go straight to my room, but then I heard Maria's voice from the living room. Only now I noticed that I'm calling her Maria, without "san".

She had changed her clothes already, and now was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. Kanna-san was lying on a sofa with some newspaper. It looked like they were discussing news. 

"Oh, Orihime! Good morning!" Kanna-san waved to me as I entered the room. Maria only nodded to me with almost invisible smile.

"Hi… I… I just wanted to return this…" I put Maria's jacket on a chair next to her. 

"Thanks…" She didn't even look at me, examining something in her cup.

I turned away and went out of the room when I heard Kanna-san's voice.

"Hey, Orihime, do you want me to find some Aspirin for you? You don't look well…"

"No, thanks…" I answered and almost ran to my room.

0000000

I spent the entire day behind the closed door. I refused to go to the troupe meeting, saying that I've got a headache, but the real reason was because I didn't want anyone to see my red eyes full of tears. 

That's ridiculous, I was telling to myself. She was just nice with me because I'm younger and it was my first truly serious role. She just wanted to support me. And she wanted to relax after the premiere. How could I imagine there was something else behind her conduct? How could I forget to fall out of love when the curtain had gone down? But how could I not when she's such a wonderful person? She was so gallant, and so sweet, and so… And then she barely looked at me in the morning… But why? What had I done wrong?

After several hours of crying I looked at my room. It was a mess. I guess, being in a rage, I had knocked everything down. That made me feel even more miserable. At that moment Reni entered my room through the open window.

"Hey, Cinderella, is this yours?" She gave me my slipper. "I found it outside."

"Yeah…" I sobbed.

"What's happened?" She jumped from the window-sill and approached me, looking into my eyes.

"If only I knew…" I hugged her and hid my face into her neck.

"You know you can trust me…" She caressed my hair with her fingers.

"Reni… I think I'm in love…" I sighed.

"Don't tell me it's…"

"Maria…" I whispered.

"Oh my…" Reni looked shocked. "I thought it was our Commander…" 

"No, you didn't." I smiled nervously. "You told me that imagining that you fall in love with your stage partner might be dangerous…"

"Well, I suspected that Maria-san's idea might affect you more strongly than she intended… But how could I imagine it would cause this?" She pointed at my broken mirror.

"Oh… It's a bad omen…" I sobbed again.

"There is no such thing as bad omens…" She hugged me. "Say, did Maria-san do anything that made you so sad?"

"No… She did nothing, and that's the problem…" I tried hard not to burst into tears. "She was so sweet yesterday, and we celebrated the premiere, and she was so tender and caring… Then this morning she acted as if nothing happened! She hardly told me a couple of words and turned away from me!"

Reni kissed me on my forehead. 

"She didn't come to the meeting as well…" She murmured. "The director was furious! She said she can't talk to us while both lead actresses are absent."

"Could you… Could you go to her room and see if she's fine?" I whispered.

Reni looked surprised, but nodded. In few minutes she returned, and Kanna-san was with her. She looked nervous and somehow confused. 

"Hey, Orihime, how do you feel?" Kanna-san asked. 

"Umm… Not very well…" I tried not to look at her, because my room was in a disastrous condition, and that was incredibly embarrassing.

"You might be able to help us…" She lowered her voice. "Maria has been pretty sick since this morning, and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Did you drink anything yesterday?"

"Actually, yes… It was…" I tried to remember the bottle, but it was too dark last night. "Something European… There was only one bottle…However… I had a horrible headache this morning as well…"

"Had you got any food?"

"No…" I started to realise what she meant.

"Just as I thought…" Kanna-san smacked her forehead with her palm. "Let's go…" 

0000000

In the kitchen Kanna-san prepared a huge bowl of salad and made me eat it. Then with Reni's help she did the same bowl for Maria, added some bread and a big mug of sweetened tea, and gave the cart to me.

"You should feed her."

"Why me?" I protested. 

"She'll appreciate it, I'm sure." Kanna-san smirked.

"D-did she say anything?" I looked at her in horror.

"Like what?"

"Like nothing!" 

I stomped away from the kitchen. But the closer I came to Maria's room, the less self-confident I became. What if she had regrets about last night? What if she doesn't want to see me? I slowly opened the door. 

Maria was lying in her bed with her eyes closed. Her face was pale. Iris was sitting next to her, helplessly hugging Jean-Paul. Seeing me entering the room she smiled in relief. 

"You can go…" I whispered, and there was no need to say it twice. Iris nodded and left us alone.

I sat on the bed next to Maria and touched her cheek with my fingertips. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at me with a light smile.

"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Soliet is the sun!" She articulated with her lips only.

"Well, literally Soletta means Little Sun, so that's correct…" I blushed and looked away. "Kanna-san thinks you should eat this…" I pointed at the cart.

"Would you join me?" She caught my hand and squeezed it in hers. 

"I'm not hungry… Already… You know Kanna-san…" I murmured, still not looking at her.

"Are you angry at me?" She asked, trying to sit in a comfortable enough position for eating.

"I…" 

"That's fine… I should apologise, I think. I shouldn't have left you alone there on the roof. But I woke up because of a severe stomach ache, and I had to do something with that immediately. I thought I'd be able to return while you were still sleeping, but then I realized I could barely move."

I nodded.

"It was a bad idea to drink alcohol after not eating for almost two days, I suppose. Kanna, who is an early bird, found me in the kitchen when I was trying to make some coffee with my shaking hands. She sent me to the living room and did the coffee for me herself. And then you appeared there with my jacket. I had to be nicer with you, but any move was painful…"

"I know…" I sighed. "I think it was my first hang-over today…"

"Oh… I'm so sorry…" She put her arm around my shoulders. 

"Maria…san!" Suddenly I looked into her eyes. "What am I to you?"

"My cute Juliet, of course!" She smirked.

"But seriously!" I bit my lip and turned away again.

"I'm serious…" She hugged me tightly and whispered into my ear. "I wanted to perform in this play with you, so I asked the manager to revive it. And I asked him to give us these roles…"

"It's not fair…" I closed my eyes and covered her hands with mine. "I had no choice…"

"Do you regret?" Her breath caressed my skin.

"No… Not for a second…" I turned my head towards her, and then her lips found mine.

0000000

"Say, Orihime, how do you know you're in love?" Reni asked when we were at a food market buying fresh vegetables for a dinner.

"Hmmm… At first you can't believe it's true… And then you realise you're the happiest person in the whole world…" I smiled, thinking of Maria.

"I see…" Reni murmured.

"Don't tell me it's…"

"Iris…"

"Oh my God!" I giggled. "I thought it was our Commander…"

We couldn't stop laughing.

* * *

_ O Maria, Maria! Wherefore art thou Maria?_

The next chapter is a humorous bonus for Maria's fans. 


	2. Learning Russian with Maria Tachibana

**Learning Russian with Maria Tachibana.**

"Maria-san, Maria-san, what is Snegurochka?"

"Well, there was a legend about a Snow Maiden who fell in love with a mortal guy. During one winter festival she wanted to impress him, so she jumped over a camp fire and turned into a small cloud of a steam."

"How stupid…"

"You know, we, women, do a lot of stupid things when we're in love…"

"I suppose you're right… But why do you use her name as your battle shout?"

"Because ice is a cool element, and our Koubu work using the power of steam. Nobody here knows this legend anyway."

--------

"Maria-san, what is Katyusha?"

"Oh, Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery… Really powerful… They are relatively fragile but inexpensive and easy to produce…"

"Sounds interesting…"

"It's a female name as well…"

---------

"Maria-san, what is 'Za vashe zdorovie'?"

"It's one of those phrases foreigners expect to hear from Russians on a daily basis."

"But what does it mean?"

"It literally means "For your health!" and is equal to Japanese _Kampai_."

----------

"Maria-san, what is Kazuar?"

"Oh no! Not this one!"

"But wasn't it your name in Russia?"

"It was a joke! My captain had a weird sense of humour."

"I thought it was something like _phoenix_…"

"It's a bird. But its closest relative is ostrich, not phoenix…"

"Oh…"

"At least it can run very fast…"


End file.
